South African IGEL user, Maizey Plastics, uses the thirdgeneration thin client in an efficient ERP migration to Microsoft Navision Axapta.
In its mission statement, the successful South African plastics distributor Maizey Plastics adopts as its own a constant striving for efficiency and profitability. The success achieved to date by this medium-sized company, originally set up in 1950 as an engraving and die sinking business, is proof that this mission statement is not just empty words. Maizey Plastics is headquartered in Pretoria and is one of the major distributors of plastic products in South Africa today. The founder member of the national trade association PDASA (Plastics Distributors Association of South Africa) currently has 17 branches and employs a staff of 323. With a distribution and logistics centre covering an area of approximately 27,000m2, the company distributes more than 170 different intermediate products used in processing as well as end products for the signage, shop fittings, interiors and digital media sectors.
Ongoing modernisation of the IT infrastructure The superior standards of efficiency and profitability are reflected not least also in the company's IT infrastructure. Maizey Plastics has been using the thin client-based Server Based Computing model in conjunction with a UNIX server and the SYSPRO ERP software package for seven years now. South African IGEL distributor PAF Systems performed pioneering work to make this terminal server suitable for the company. Shortly afterwards, the company changed over to graphic user interfaces. In the course of this transition, a Windows 2000 application server and the first IGEL-W thin clients were procured. At that time, the server and terminals communicated over an ICA protocol via diginet lines from the Head Office data centre to the branches. The diginet WAN still exists today in an upgraded form. Use of the ICA protocol was discontinued in 2000. At that time, Citrix stopped CDS (Citrix Device Services) server software that up to then had been delivered free of charge with the thin clients. Instead, Maizey Plastics opted to use Windows 2000 Terminal Services and the associated Microsoft RDP client. "This landmark decision led after just two years to the first changeover in generations for thin clients," recalls Quintis Lamprecht, IT Administrator at Maizey Plastics and the person responsible for the company's IT infrastructure. "The Igel terminals of the first generation offered an 8 MB DOC (Disc on Chip) module for storing firmware. Due to the higher storage requirement of the RDP client we exchanged all 80 devices for its successor model, the IGEL-416 Winestra, which already had the RDP protocol integrated as standard in the firmware."
Purchasing workstation PCs was never an option for Quintis Lamprecht. "Our ROI calculations for the thin client environment are based on comparative values with PCs. With the exception of two power users in Marketing, who use graphics-intensive applications, there are no PC users in the company."
Third IGEL generation offers more bandwidth Maizey Plastic is currently using third-generation IGEL thin clients. The steadily growing number of users was a major factor in the implementation of the current IGEL- 332 Compact model. "One of the most important cost factors in South Africa is bandwidth," explains Quintis Lamprecht. "High-quality connections are relatively expensive. At the beginning of 2004, we hit maximum capacity with more than 100 users." Assistance arrived in the form of the new and more efficient RDP (version 5.2). IGEL was one of the first manufacturers to integrate it into its new models. "After four years of working with the second-generation product, we therefore decided to implement the new IGEL-332 Compact. This enabled us to solve two problems straight away. The space-saving Thin Clients already had the new protocol integrated as standard and they also constituted an important basis for the planned ERP migration. Switching to RDP 5.2 reduced the bandwidth requirement from a total of around 22 to 26 kBit/s to roughly 16 to 18 kBit/s. That translates into a saving of almost 30 percent." Maizey Plastics currently uses around 130 of the new terminals. Almost half of the IGEL-416 Winestra models are still in use. They are used in the central data centre as print servers, one of the many additional features of the IGEL Thin Clients. The rest of the old devices were given to a charitable organisation.
To reduce the bandwidth further, one of the things that Quintis Lamprecht is considering is the use of ThinPrint software. The required software client is included as standard in the IGEL firmware. The models also offer local versions of frequently used standard applications such as an Internet browser or Media Player.
Migration to Microsoft Navision In terms of hardware, Maizey Plastics is currently running a Windows 2003 application server for all 120 thin client users. A second Windows 2000 terminal server is used as back-up. In addition, the central data centre also houses Microsoft Exchange 2000, a RightFax server, the old UNIX server for the SYSPRO ERP system and two domain controllers and a Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server.
Maizey Plastics will soon begin the hardware rollout for the "AIM" project that was started in August 2005. The company will thus say good-bye to SYSPRO and the UNIX back end and migrate to a purely Microsoft environment based on the object-oriented ERP system, Axapta. The new IGEL generation will also play an important role in this migration. "With the implementation of the third-generation thin client, we are meeting all recommended minimum requirements for the new release. We consider the symbiosis of thin client architecture and Axapta to be an elegant solution, which we can use to further reduce administration costs and significantly simplify our business processes. The homogenisation of our IT landscape and the high level of integration in Microsoft Office will accelerate our processes. It means, for example, that a quote that has been calculated in Axapta can be transferred directly to Word and faxed to the customer."
The migration project is scheduled for completion by February 2006. In the course of the project, two Windows 2003 terminal servers, including a load-balancing system, are to be made available to users and Exchange Server is to be updated to the 2003 version. In addition, there will be one SQL and two application servers for Axapta.
Simple administration, good support After seven years' experience with the German manufacturer, Lamprecht sees himself as a converted IGEL user. "IGEL has a very good reputation in South Africa. Although there are numerous providers out there we have never considered switching. This is due first and foremost to the reliability and the price/performance ratio of the devices as well as the superb support structure. We are allowing for a lifespan of approximately five years for the new generation of devices." Lamprecht is aware that he has not by any means exploited the full potential of the thin clients. "We are doing without the cost-free IGEL Remote Management Suite administration software in favour of a lower bandwidth utilisation. Both the new and replacement devices that we send to our branches are already preconfigured. Connection is easy. Our reliable partner PAF Systems supplies the firmware updates for us."
Milestone for competitiveness The hardware rollout for the Axapta migration begins in October and will be accompanied by the firmware upgrade for the new IGEL Thin Clients. "The AIM project is a milestone in competitiveness for our company. We are calculating an ROI of three to four years for this homogenous, thin and low-maintenance IT environment. We are also aiming for a productivity gain of up to 30 percent. IGEL's flexible and upgradeable thin clients account for a significant proportion of this increase. Their efficiency and low bandwidth utilisation deliver the basic requirements that we need and make the system future-proof on the end-user side. Customers of the new model generation are pleasantly surprised at how quickly the applications appear on the screen. The future integration of Office will once again enhance the workstations and make them even more efficient."
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